AMC Trustees Biography

Position	Photo	Bio
Moderator		Alice Ericksen has been a member of Atkinson for almost 6 years. Being raised in the Catholic faith, she found that that theology no longer worked for her and she spent 30+ years not attending any church at all. The first stop in her “church shopping” in 2003 was Atkinson, and she never went anywhere else. Alice has been involved in many of church activities from almost her first day and loves our “liberal church at the end of the Oregon Trail.” Alice retired in 2003 after a 32 year career in public education and lives in the country south of Molalla with her husband Paul. They have one son, Jeff, who is married and lives in Wisconsin.
Vice Moderator		Margi McCue spent her first 35 years in Minneapolis and grew up in the Congregational church. Subsequently, after a few years living in Arizona and Eugene Oregon she became a Unitarian Universalist in 1980. Initially a member of the Eugene church, she and Dennis moved to San Francisco when their five children had all moved away and they decided to live like grownups in the big city. Margi served on the Board and was moderator at First UU Church of SF. In late 1991, when they were really missing family, they moved to the Portland area and joined Atkinson Church. Margi served once before on the Atkinson board and was moderator in the late 90s. Margi is a speaker, trainer and activist focusing on women and family issues. She is an adjunct at PSU and has had two books published on domestic violence and also developed a video based violence prevention curriculum for children in K-5. As Margi moves further into retirement, she spends much of her time playing, traveling and visiting with her five children and 13 grandchildren. Margi is delighted to be serving on the Atkinson Board once again especially in this exciting time of expansion and building.
Treasurer		Ron Pitney and Barb (AMC's Bookkeeper), his wife of 42 years, have been members of AMC since early 2004. Prior to that they were members of South Park UU Fellowship in West Linn for many years. Ron was a RE teacher there and served on the Board for several years. He has been a member of the Facilities Committee at AMC since shortly after joining the church and very much likes help keeping the grand old building in good shape. He is an alternate audio person for AMC and recently rotated off the Pastoral Associates Team after several years of service. Ron retired after almost 34 years with the Multnomah County Juvenile Justice System beginning as a Juvenile Court Counselor and in later years held various administrative/management positions. He and Barb are enjoying retirement on their property in the country with their 2 horses, 3 dogs and a cat. Their oldest son Brad works as a Computer Engineer and lives in Beaverton with their youngest, Matt, who is in his last year of college.
Clerk		Ann Bernhardt has been a member of AMC for 4 of the 5 years she has lived here and she loves the energy of this church. She enjoys the diversity in the congregation with so many people building this strong community. She believes in and supports the programs offered in the church, particularly religious education. It is important to her for our children to have an understanding and appreciation of world religions and discover what resonates within themselves. By serving on the board, she hopes to grow our congregation and maintain our community for years to come.
Trustee		Patti White Seminario and her family have been members of Atkinson for over 10 years. Her family includes her husband Steve and children Zeke (age 17) and Hanna (age 16). She grew up in Seattle and graduated from the University of Washington in international business. After receiving an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, she worked for Hewlett-Packard in management roles in California, Singapore and Oregon. From 1997-2009, she was the Founder and CEO of a cardiac medical device company here in Oregon.
Trustee		Wiley Swogger was born and raised in Northeast Portland where his parents were members of Westminster Presbyterian Church – His grandfather being a Presbyterian Minister and Missionary. Early in his grade school years his parents questioned the church doctrine and were politely told to “look elsewhere”. His father, Dallas Swogger, was first introduced to Unitarian Universalism in the early 60s by Bill Dickman, a long-time member of Atkinson. They later became members of First Church in downtown Portland but their main form of worship was through extensive hiking and backpacking in the forests of Oregon and Washington. Wiley was never religiously active but always maintained a very open mind and liberal attitude while growing up and through his service in the Air Force. After settling in Milwaukie and looking at starting a family he and his wife Holly started looking for a church. When first stepping into Atkinson they immediately felt at home. They joined Atkinson Church in 1996 and have been active members ever since. Wiley was immediately asked to join the Choir where he has been a tenor (often the only one) through the years. He also occasionally plays his bagpipes for church services and special events. Wiley currently works for Providence Health & Services where he started as a Biomedical Electronics Technician in 1984 and is now the Applications Manager for the Oregon Regional Clinical Engineering group where he specializes in Database administration and analysis, database report writing and SharePoint implementation. He has one son, Brendan and daughter, Kaitlyn who are both growing up with Atkinson as their spiritual home.
Trustee		Pat Dudley

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